DIY Photowall

I thought I had already posted on my beloved DIY photowall, but apparently it got buried in my massive amount of photos. I realized that I didn’t have a lot of photos in my home and as part of my Happiness Project, I decided to do a photowall projects. Projects, though it may take time and effort increase happiness in the home. (I’m over simplifying it but Gretchen Rubin explains it in her book, The Happiness Project.)

Materials

3 multi-sized gold photo frames I got cheap from Manila

I found more cheap photo frames in Ace Hardware (the color doesn’t matter) And it’s better if you get different frames because the difference in frame shape will come out when you spray paint it white.

Can of white spray paint from Ace

Gloves

Old newspapers

Mask to cover my face while I spray painted

Photos of your happiest memories (these are photos of the BEACH for me!)

I placed the black cheap frames on newspapers on my balcony (any well ventilated area will do), put on my mask and gloves and followed the instructions in the spray can (I think I did 2 coats of the spray)

Once it was dry (again refer to the instructions on the can) I arranged the frames on my table and took a pictures so I could remember how I wanted them on the wall.

*Another good idea is to arrange the frames on a big piece of paper and once you are satisfied with the arrangement, trace the frames on the paper. You can tape the paper on the wall you want to place them in and drill the holes accordingly (without removing the paper until you have all the holes drilled

I then placed 3M Command painting strips (they are like velcro but way more awesome) on the back of each frame. (Be careful to check the load capacity of the strips)

Note that there is a sort of line in the center of my photowall arrangement. I decided where I wanted the center of the entire photowall to be, and placed the biggest frame (white one in the center) first to guide all the frames around it, while referring to my photo for the entire process.

It’s really easy to do this with 3M Command Painting strips because if you make a mistake, you can redo it without damaging the wall. Also you can make minor adjustments later on.

Et Viola!

I love seeing the photowall on our hallway. Everytime I look, it makes me so happy.

Hi Kaho, thank you for dropping by! My initial plan was to have an all white photo wall, and it just so happened that I had the gold frames from Manila so I decided to add it in to make it interesting. Even though the frames are cheap, I loved it so much I brought it with me to Berlin and recreated it in my Berlin hallway. I’m glad you like the colour combination! =)